Statewide Filings Up 210 Percent From February 2007; Rate in Nation’s Top 5

IRVINE, Calif. – March 26, 2008 – Arizona reported 9,650 properties with foreclosure filings for February 2008, up 7 percent from the previous month, and 210 percent above the level reported for February 2007, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. One in every 264 Arizona households received a foreclosure filing during the month, 2.1 times the national average and the fourth highest foreclosure rate among the 50 states.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“Foreclosure levels have risen three out of the last four months in Arizona, and are now at the highest level we’ve seen since we started tracking foreclosures there,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Employment does not appear to be a problem since the state’s unemployment rate is well below the national average. Still, homes sales have been significantly down as are home prices, making it extremely difficult for distressed homeowners in the state — many of whom used subprime loans to finance their home purchases originally — to save their homes from foreclosure.”

Even with an escalated level of foreclosure activity, The Grand Canyon State’s total for the month was far outdistanced by national leader California, which reported 53,629 properties with foreclosure filings. The state total was also well behind second place Florida, which documented 32,447 properties with foreclosure filings for February. Texas was comfortably in third place, reporting 12,261 properties with foreclosure filings for the month. Michigan’s 10,957 properties with foreclosure filings came in fourth place, and Ohio came in a close fifth, reporting 10,386 properties with foreclosure filings. The remaining states in the nation’s top 10 for total foreclosure filings in February were Illinois, Georgia, Colorado and Nevada.

Top three counties account for bulk of state total in February

Three Arizona counties accounted for 87 percent of all foreclosure activity in the state for February. Once again MaricopaCounty led the way, reporting 6,847 properties with foreclosure filings for the month. PinalCounty came in second, reporting 978 properties with foreclosure filings. Third highest total was documented in PimaCounty with 601 properties with foreclosure filings for the month.

Santa CruzCounty tops in foreclosure rate for the month

Santa CruzCounty posted the highest foreclosure rate in the state for February, with one in every 80 households receiving a foreclosure filing — 3.3 times the state average and nearly seven times the national average. PinalCounty documented the state’s second highest rate, with one in every 111 households receiving a foreclosure filing — 2.4 times the state average and five times the national average. Third highest rate — one in every 216 households receiving a foreclosure filing, 1.2 times the state average and 2.6 times the national average — was reported in Maricopa County.

State a significant contributor to nation’s foreclosure total in February

Arizona accounted for 4 percent of the 223,651 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide in January. The national total represents a 4 percent decrease from the previous month, but is still 60 percent ahead of the total reported for February 2007. One in every 557 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month.

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number of foreclosure filings — both nationwide and by state — over the preceding month. RealtyTrac’s report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Defaults — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auctions — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix, and No. 53 on Inc. magazine’s 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (www.realtytrac.com), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new homes, with more than 1.3 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal. For more information, visit (www.realtytrac.com).

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.